We were fighting - de Villiers

Proteas captain A.B. de Villiers has downplayed the significance of Sunday's defeat to West Indies as the side gears up for the ICC World Cup starting next month.

"It's certainly not a wake-up call. We were wide awake, and there is no doubt about the fact that we weren't complacent," de Villiers was quick to point out.

"We were on the money the whole time; we were fighting. After every wicket, we spoke about being humble and working hard.

"It came down to a bit of pressure towards the end, and we lost. It's a painful affair, but we move on and we will try and finish on a high at Centurion."

De Villiers said, however, that there were areas where South Africa needed to improve going forward to the final ODI in Centurion tomorrow.

too many extras

"There were too many extras ... which hurt me quite a bit," he noted.

"It was unfortunate that we leaked the extras, the no-balls, and wides. If you are going to play close games of cricket, it comes down to the little things like that - the one dropped catch by me, a couple of fumbles in the field.

"All in all, it was a great fight by us and I'm proud of the way we stuck to our plans and fought back."